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01 Nov 2010 18:49

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U.S.: Ah, immigration, you old wedge issue you: Arizona case in court

  • There’s no reason why Arizona should stand by and suffer the consequences of a broken system, when (it) has 15,000 well-trained peace officers that Washington authorities aren’t allowing to help fix the system. That’s what Arizona wants to do.
  • John Bouma, the lawyer representing Arizona • Arguing in favor of the state’s immigration law during an appeals court trial in California. The judges in the case asked both sides difficult questions and didn’t seem to be favoring either one. Meanwhile, there were a ton of protesters outside holding the kind of signs that weren’t all that commonplace at the Rally To Restore Sanity. Ah, divisions. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

31 Oct 2010 20:58

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Politics, U.S.: Palin: ABC reporters are “corrupt bastards”

  • In this clip, Sarah Palin charges ABC affiliates in Alaska with “corruption,” claiming that they “conspired to make up stories about Joe Miller.” According to her, reporters at a recent Miller rally attempted to find a child molester in the crowd in order to discredit Miller and his supporters. A tape of has been released, and Palin “can’t wait until it busts out all over the nation.” source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 2 Comments • Permalink

30 Oct 2010 11:50

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U.S., World: Terror threat: Suspicious device in UK meant to blow up plane

  • The target may have been an aircraft and had it detonated the aircraft could have been brought down. We do not believe that the perpetrators of the attack would have known the location of the device when it was planned to explode.
  • UK emergency planning committee Theresa May • Explaining the situation with the device found on a plane intercepted at a London airport yesterday. So yeah, the expected the thing to blow up. It didn’t. In other news, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano states the obvious. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

29 Oct 2010 17:11

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U.S.: The U.S. spends LOTS of money on intelligence, defense

  • $80.1
    billion     the amount the U.S. spent on intelligence in 2010
  • $664
    billion     the amount the U.S. spends on its total defense budget source
  • » Why this is a big deal: Two reasons. First of all, the intelligence spending numbers were never reported during the most recent Bush Administration – this is the first time we’ve gotten new numbers here in nearly a decade. Secondly, the intelligence budget has effectively doubled in the ten years – which makes sense if, you know, you account for 9/11 happening in the meantime. If you’re a high-spending government looking for something to cut to correct years of fiscal irresponsibility, though, this might be a good spot to look.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

29 Oct 2010 16:54

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U.S.: Freakout Friday: YES. THERE WERE EXPLOSIVE DEVICES. YIKES.

  • yes The packages involved on two flights from Yemen to the U.S. contained explosives.
  • yes The packages in question were addressed to religious locations – including a synagogue.
  • no The device shown here – intercepted in London – was in fact not an explosive device. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

29 Oct 2010 16:36

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Biz, U.S.: Here comes the denial: Halliburton sez they didn’t cause oil spill

  • Halliburton does not believe that the foam cement design used on the Macondo well was the cause of the incident.
  • A statement from Halliburton • Responding to the Senate committee report that suggested that their handiwork was a cause of the Gulf Oil Spill. Their take? While Halliburton admits that they didn’t do a key stability test, BP was to blame for a poor design process (an angle they’ve held onto since the spill first happened). And, worse, BP didn’t perform a critical cement bond log test. Also, both BP and Transocean misinterpreted the results of a negative pressure test – a misinterpretation that proved deadly for the workers on the rig. There are a lot of complicated details here, but the point you should take from this is that everyone is blaming everyone else. Which is understandable. Have you seen the rage caused by this oil spill? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

29 Oct 2010 15:44

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U.S.: Freakout Friday: All planes from Yemen scare Americans

  • Scared of your own shadow yet? Today might be the day to start freaking out. Whew … a lot has happened since our last post. First of all, above is the suspicious device that CNN managed to get photos of as an exclusive. It apparently had some sort of weird powder on it. Next up, the U.S. is keeping an eye on a Emirates Air flight from Yemen that’s supposed to be landing in NYC any minute now. (Update: Just landed. No word on what’s up yet.) While they have no proof that the plane might have some blowy-uppy stuff on it, now is not the time to take chances. Finally, Chicago synogagues have been warned to keep an eye out for crazy crap on their doorsteps, because we don’t want people to get hurt or anything. Holy crap. Hope this doesn’t get any worse or we’re gonna have to get rid of the “Freakout Friday” slogan. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

29 Oct 2010 12:14

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U.S.: Classy guy reportedly waterboarded his girlfriend for some reason

  • rationalBeing upset that your girlfriend is possibly cheating on you with another guy. Understandable.
  • irrational Allegedly tying her to a couch and waterboarding her. Can we just say, domestic abuse? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

29 Oct 2010 11:49

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U.S.: Freakout Friday: Planes contain “suspicious items” from Yemen

  • ChicagoA plane headed from Yemen to Chicago – a common trip, of course – had a strange device on it that raised suspicions.
  • NewarkA UPS plane from Yemen reportedly contained suspicious items, as did a UPS truck that made it to NYC. Scary.
  • PhillyAnother UPS plane in Philly also contained suspicious items, and workers were checked just in case. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

29 Oct 2010 11:16

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U.S.: Did gunman in DC area with very specific agenda repeat himself?

  • To our friend shooting at various Marine-related buildings in the DC Area: You should stretch out. We understand that you may have something against the Marines. That’s why you’ve shot at all those Marine-related buildings. But you’re starting to repeat yourself. Last night, someone shot at the National Museum of the Marine Corps for the second time in a month. (Just a guess, but: It was probably you.) But you should shoot other empty military-related buildings in the middle of the night for no good reason. That’s right, buddy, leave a bigger paper trail so that the police can figure out who you are and why you’re on such a bizarre caper against buildings that didn’t do anything to you. (Also, just to help police: Consider leaving a business card.) source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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